British Florida: the TL
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I wonder how the black population will thrive in Florida and the way racial relations will be, there isn't an anglophone country in OTL compared to British Florida
A large part of the political developments in the next years will focus on the expanding vote, and its implications for political power, and the struggle against a (global) rise in white supremacy around the turn of the 19th century. (At least SOME powerful Floridians will seek to emulate the segregationist policies which are being unleashed up north).
I understand that part of the reason that the film industry seems up in Hollywood was to get some distance between them and Thomas Edison in New York. Edison held the patents on film camera technology and expected to be paid.
A border and different patent laws could help Florida in this, then again a local patent by Edison might be more closely enforced by a Florida government. It’s hard to say what is more likely.
Here's a fun butterfly:
Picture City, Florida - Wikipedia
Picture City was a planned community for film production, which was hit by a Hurricane before it got off the ground, kind of dooming the idea.
Maybe they choose a location further north?
Maybe inland to avoid hurricanes. But still south of the winter frost lines. Like maybe Orlando?
Nazi Space Spy
Banned
I had a project entitled Yankee Dominion a few years ago in which Hollywood Florida was the ATL heart of the American film industry. Might be equally as hurricane prone though. Orlando is a good bet, especially if you plan on Orlando still hosting Disney or some alt-version of it.Here's a fun butterfly:
Picture City, Florida - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
Picture City was a planned community for film production, which was hit by a Hurricane before it got off the ground, kind of dooming the idea.
Maybe they choose a location further north?
Maybe inland to avoid hurricanes. But still south of the winter frost lines. Like maybe Orlando?
So Bahamas was never part of the West Indies cricket team...(neither were Bermuda, TCI, Caymans or Belize).
This isn't an insurmountable obstacle of course, as all have been mentioned as potential members.
In Canada, Cricket was the most popular sport until about the 1880s...and was "major" or "important minor" sport as late as the 1920s.
As for Bahamas, Cricket was probably the most popular sport into the 1990s...
So somewhere between the two. They will definitely been an international test nation which is a regular at World Cups. Cricket is definitely an important sport, and like in Australia, it may be considered the "National Game" because it's everyone's second favourite sport or the one that breaches the most geographical and ethnic divides.
In terms of ability, probably around the level of Bangladesh. The Florida team is probably never better than the West Indies. By today, I'd expect that Basketball and Football (soccer) are the most popular sports, but Cricket and Baseball will have important fan bases; American Football will be growing, and Rugby and Field Lacrosse may be popular at the college level.
But into at least the 1920s, cricket is universally acknowledged as the most popular sport and the "National Game".
Indeed, Ice Tea (of the hard and not hard variety) at the Cricket is likely one of those quintessential Flurregion experiences. Especially if ya throw some Jerk barbecue in the mix!
As for Florida joining the Windies...I honestly think that Floridians wouldn't have a substantial impact. Jamaica's population alone is probably larger than Florida's until somewhere around 1940-1960; the sport remains the unequivocal number 1 in the West Indies...I'd say Florida would maintain a second team because few Floridians would qualify for the Windies, even if they are the the 9th or 10th best nation on the planet. By these days, Florida is probably the location of multiple teams in the Caribbean Premier League...but the game is probably most popular amongst the (substantial) West Indian and South Asian communities, and older folks.
Good place to host a World Cup, too.
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Of Politics and Power (1865-1914)
As mentioned upthread, the white-majority British colonies all gained Responsible Government (an Executive Council/Cabinet appointed by and responsible to the elected Lower House) between 1848 and 1856 IOTL. The Cape Colony achieved the same in 1872, the first colony without a white majority to do so.
ITTL Florida makes history; some time between 1856 and 1872 (and I believe likely not long after 1856) Florida gains responsible government, and after Canadian Confederation, a political movement grows to provide Florida with a more robust constitutional framework. This process is completed by 1874, and during the process, Florida gains the Bahamas (including Turks & Caicos Islands).
The new constitution is unitary or quasi-federal in nature, more similar to the contemporary New Zealand constitution than the Canadian one, but different in its own way.
The former administrative districts will become 'Provinces' of Florida (the districts being the likely renamed West Florida, Middle Florida, East Florida, with South Florida split into 3, the new capitals at OTL Tampa and OTL Key West); but these will not have the same constitutional grounding as the Canadian ones; they are governed by an elected council with a Superintendent appointed by the Florida Executive. The Provinces are subdivided into counties somewhat larger than the OTL ones (at least in the North), which are subdivided further into Parishes.
The Upper House will be appointed by the Executive, as in Canada, but won't be subject geographical restrictions, at least in the first incarnation. As in Canada, members of the Upper House (called the Legislative Council in Florida) are appointed for life; this is intentionally done to mitigate the 'damage' which could be caused by further expansion of the vote, which is subject to property qualification not unlike those in Britain, Canada, or the Cape at the time.
This ensures that despite having an Afro-Floridian majority, Florida's legislature is overwhelmingly white, with the small number of mixed-race persons outnumbering Afro-Floridian MPs for several decades.
In the early era, it's entirely possible that Florida sees a late development of a true party system, and that early elections focus around a "Government" vs "Opposition" dynamic.
Over time, however, distinctive camps will form. CeeJay's Palmera, for anyone who for some reason has not yet read it but finds themselves this far into this thread, has some incredibly creative and well-constructed names for Palmera's political groupings. I have the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party. Here all day, folks.
The Liberal Party are "classical Liberals" who are broadly aligned with the contemporary Republican Party of the USA, as well as the British & Canadian Liberal parties, a party of Business which encourages links to United States. The Liberal Party, aligned with early Progressive movements, is also, as in Canada, NZ and the UK, more sympathetic to the nascent labour movement, and consequently finds a much more substantial base of support among the mixed-race population, as well as the few black and Asian Floridians who can vote.
The Conservative Party, meanwhile, has its closest connections with the British and Canadian Conservative parties. Also, of course, a pro-business party, they favour links with Canada and especially Britain. They are closely aligned with (now dis-established) Anglican Church and the 'old money' settlers of Florida.
As a result, when the deep south states begin introducing white supremacist segregationist constitutions from 1888, both major political parties in Florida, despite being controlled by white Floridians, have significant pull factors dissuading them from fulling embracing the alarming rise of 'scientific' (sic) racism.
I believe that Florida, which by this point has a long established tradition of racial equality before the law, will avoid adopting public segregation, in state institutions. The white-dominated legislatures, however, will do nothing to stop private businesses from discriminating in any way they see fit; this of course is to not offend the sensibilites of American tourists whose dollars they so eagerly seek. This will lead to an increasing proliferation of segregation, which over time will establish a societal expectation which will begin to pressure the legislature to institute formal segregation, just as political and social developments are leading to a renewed push for full equality and introduction of universal suffrage - but I'm getting ahead of myself a little.
The third, in this period largely extra-parliamentary political force, is that of the Labour movement, and its allies in the Farmers, Populist, Progressive, and Socialist movements. This Florida is significantly more industrialised at this early time than OTL Florida, and so the Labour movement is an important factor by no later than the 1890s. It is dominated from an early date by Afro-Floridians, and is closely tied to the movement for universal suffrage.
ITTL Florida makes history; some time between 1856 and 1872 (and I believe likely not long after 1856) Florida gains responsible government, and after Canadian Confederation, a political movement grows to provide Florida with a more robust constitutional framework. This process is completed by 1874, and during the process, Florida gains the Bahamas (including Turks & Caicos Islands).
The new constitution is unitary or quasi-federal in nature, more similar to the contemporary New Zealand constitution than the Canadian one, but different in its own way.
The former administrative districts will become 'Provinces' of Florida (the districts being the likely renamed West Florida, Middle Florida, East Florida, with South Florida split into 3, the new capitals at OTL Tampa and OTL Key West); but these will not have the same constitutional grounding as the Canadian ones; they are governed by an elected council with a Superintendent appointed by the Florida Executive. The Provinces are subdivided into counties somewhat larger than the OTL ones (at least in the North), which are subdivided further into Parishes.
The Upper House will be appointed by the Executive, as in Canada, but won't be subject geographical restrictions, at least in the first incarnation. As in Canada, members of the Upper House (called the Legislative Council in Florida) are appointed for life; this is intentionally done to mitigate the 'damage' which could be caused by further expansion of the vote, which is subject to property qualification not unlike those in Britain, Canada, or the Cape at the time.
This ensures that despite having an Afro-Floridian majority, Florida's legislature is overwhelmingly white, with the small number of mixed-race persons outnumbering Afro-Floridian MPs for several decades.
In the early era, it's entirely possible that Florida sees a late development of a true party system, and that early elections focus around a "Government" vs "Opposition" dynamic.
Over time, however, distinctive camps will form. CeeJay's Palmera, for anyone who for some reason has not yet read it but finds themselves this far into this thread, has some incredibly creative and well-constructed names for Palmera's political groupings. I have the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party. Here all day, folks.
The Liberal Party are "classical Liberals" who are broadly aligned with the contemporary Republican Party of the USA, as well as the British & Canadian Liberal parties, a party of Business which encourages links to United States. The Liberal Party, aligned with early Progressive movements, is also, as in Canada, NZ and the UK, more sympathetic to the nascent labour movement, and consequently finds a much more substantial base of support among the mixed-race population, as well as the few black and Asian Floridians who can vote.
The Conservative Party, meanwhile, has its closest connections with the British and Canadian Conservative parties. Also, of course, a pro-business party, they favour links with Canada and especially Britain. They are closely aligned with (now dis-established) Anglican Church and the 'old money' settlers of Florida.
As a result, when the deep south states begin introducing white supremacist segregationist constitutions from 1888, both major political parties in Florida, despite being controlled by white Floridians, have significant pull factors dissuading them from fulling embracing the alarming rise of 'scientific' (sic) racism.
I believe that Florida, which by this point has a long established tradition of racial equality before the law, will avoid adopting public segregation, in state institutions. The white-dominated legislatures, however, will do nothing to stop private businesses from discriminating in any way they see fit; this of course is to not offend the sensibilites of American tourists whose dollars they so eagerly seek. This will lead to an increasing proliferation of segregation, which over time will establish a societal expectation which will begin to pressure the legislature to institute formal segregation, just as political and social developments are leading to a renewed push for full equality and introduction of universal suffrage - but I'm getting ahead of myself a little.
The third, in this period largely extra-parliamentary political force, is that of the Labour movement, and its allies in the Farmers, Populist, Progressive, and Socialist movements. This Florida is significantly more industrialised at this early time than OTL Florida, and so the Labour movement is an important factor by no later than the 1890s. It is dominated from an early date by Afro-Floridians, and is closely tied to the movement for universal suffrage.
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Floridian society to 1914
Florida's increased industrialization makes it an attractive destination for immigrants; it receives thousands from Canada, the USA, Britain, the West Indies, and beginning in the 1880s Eastern European Jews, as well as migrants from Cuba and Italy. They would be joined in the 1890s by immigrants from all over Europe. The numbers are small compared to those who went to the other American nations, because Florida's population is small (c 500,000 in 1900), but the impact is similar - and from the 1890s the white population begins to increase as a percentage, from perhaps 30-35% in 1880 to 40-45% in 1920. Many of the new European immigrants would find themselves without the property qualifications which would enable them to vote, and the Labour movement is increasingly supported by white immigrants as well as the black Floridian base.
The terms 'black' and 'white' deserve consideration. Especially in contrast to the highly segregated US south, with decades of "anti-miscegenation" laws and murderous lynchings, the proportion of mixed race families, and the resulting mixed population, is substantially higher. Generations of mixing, bolstered perhaps by the relatively small population, created a society where race was substantially more fluid than likely anywhere else in the British Empire, and almost certainly in the Anglosphere.
This includes, in fact, "white" Members of Parliament who identify as such and are considered by Floridians as such, and who may pass in New Orleans, but who would certainly be considered a person of colour in Canada or Britain at the time. Likewise, there were many who considered themselves solely "Black" or "African" Floridians, who would be considered predominately European by Africans, or indeed by genetic tests. This was especially true in West Florida, which contained a substantial population descended from the original creoles and Saint-Dominicans, who culturally and identified alongside the white population, and economically were part of the dominant class of the region as well.
Religion was an important part of society, and although the Church of England was disestablished by 1870, it retained prominent membership. There were also substantial Catholic, Methodist, Baptist and Presbyterian communities among the white settlers, and the African Methodist Episcopal Church, as well as many others, such as Church of God, Seventh Day Adventists and Baptists, had significant followings among the Afro-Floridian population. In addition, the South Asian community contained numerous Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs. There were east Asian buddhist, sephardi and ashkenazi Jews.
Churches and temples served as the focal points of communities, and weekends were spent in gardens sharing a variety of different dishes or attending a cricket (and later, baseball or football) match. Horse breeding had become a prominent part of the Florida agricultural economy, and an annual horse race in St. Augustine was treated as the locla equivalent of Ascot, with hats to match. Indeed, many of the more affluent suburbs of St. Augustine were so picturesque that they could've represented a scene somewhere in the west end of London, were it not for the vibrant colours of the flowers and persons indicating a more exotic location. Indeed, some of these suburbs were descended from Freedmen's villages which had formerly been established on the edge of towns, but had worked steadily towards prosperity. Meanwhile, there were occasional remote Seminole and/or Freedmen's villages, especially in Middle and South Florida, which seemed to have changed little since the time of abolition, and where a "deep patwa" dialect exists which may have more in common with the African languages (especially Akan) which it descends from then the English it sometimes resembles.
The newer migrants, West Indian, Cuban and European, were more prominent in the new communities springing up around Tampa Bay after the American Civil War; St. Augustine retained more of its traditional aesthetic, and prominent politicians looked eagerly and the "whitening" process which was taking place in Florida (and also places such as Argentina and Brasil), with European immigration increasing in each year of the twentieth century - until it halted almost completely in the late of summer of 1914.
The terms 'black' and 'white' deserve consideration. Especially in contrast to the highly segregated US south, with decades of "anti-miscegenation" laws and murderous lynchings, the proportion of mixed race families, and the resulting mixed population, is substantially higher. Generations of mixing, bolstered perhaps by the relatively small population, created a society where race was substantially more fluid than likely anywhere else in the British Empire, and almost certainly in the Anglosphere.
This includes, in fact, "white" Members of Parliament who identify as such and are considered by Floridians as such, and who may pass in New Orleans, but who would certainly be considered a person of colour in Canada or Britain at the time. Likewise, there were many who considered themselves solely "Black" or "African" Floridians, who would be considered predominately European by Africans, or indeed by genetic tests. This was especially true in West Florida, which contained a substantial population descended from the original creoles and Saint-Dominicans, who culturally and identified alongside the white population, and economically were part of the dominant class of the region as well.
Religion was an important part of society, and although the Church of England was disestablished by 1870, it retained prominent membership. There were also substantial Catholic, Methodist, Baptist and Presbyterian communities among the white settlers, and the African Methodist Episcopal Church, as well as many others, such as Church of God, Seventh Day Adventists and Baptists, had significant followings among the Afro-Floridian population. In addition, the South Asian community contained numerous Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs. There were east Asian buddhist, sephardi and ashkenazi Jews.
Churches and temples served as the focal points of communities, and weekends were spent in gardens sharing a variety of different dishes or attending a cricket (and later, baseball or football) match. Horse breeding had become a prominent part of the Florida agricultural economy, and an annual horse race in St. Augustine was treated as the locla equivalent of Ascot, with hats to match. Indeed, many of the more affluent suburbs of St. Augustine were so picturesque that they could've represented a scene somewhere in the west end of London, were it not for the vibrant colours of the flowers and persons indicating a more exotic location. Indeed, some of these suburbs were descended from Freedmen's villages which had formerly been established on the edge of towns, but had worked steadily towards prosperity. Meanwhile, there were occasional remote Seminole and/or Freedmen's villages, especially in Middle and South Florida, which seemed to have changed little since the time of abolition, and where a "deep patwa" dialect exists which may have more in common with the African languages (especially Akan) which it descends from then the English it sometimes resembles.
The newer migrants, West Indian, Cuban and European, were more prominent in the new communities springing up around Tampa Bay after the American Civil War; St. Augustine retained more of its traditional aesthetic, and prominent politicians looked eagerly and the "whitening" process which was taking place in Florida (and also places such as Argentina and Brasil), with European immigration increasing in each year of the twentieth century - until it halted almost completely in the late of summer of 1914.
It'd be a bit fiddly, ttl's Floridas has slightly bigger borders.
From east to west, the northern border follows the St. Marys River to its source before jumping up to the 31st Parallel and running west until the Mobile-Tensaw river delta (which river the alt Pickeny treaty picks doesn't particularly matter, the difference is just a bit of wetlands) and then runs south to the gulf. The island territories of course include the Florida keys, the Bahamas, and the Turks & Cacos islands.
Although...I wonder if ittl Bermuda is more closely tied to Florida than the Canada, which could potentially see a faction/party wanting to confederate with Florida post ww2 in the same way the Labrador and Newfoundland joined Canada
Yeah I suppose it's about time to try to commission one. I'm a map enthusiast but lack the map making skills myself.
As for Bermuda...it would certainly have a close relationship. Similar racial breakdown as well. At this point I'm unsure if it formally becomes part of Florida, but its certainly a strong possibility. Other places such as the Cayman Islands might be good candidates, too.
Hmm interesting, considering their historic connection to Jamaica, but I can see that happening if the attempted West Indies Federation breaks down different. I don't think including Florida into the balance would make that federation work out here, but I could see Florida liberals being more open to creating the customs union and allowing freedom of movement that many Jamaican politicians opposed
I don't think Florida will join the West Indies Federation, although they will certainly take an interest. IOTL, Bahamas, Belize and Guyana (as well as Bermuda and the British Virgin Islands) stayed out; Florida would be, by the time of the West Indies Federation:
1) already self-governing since 1870s, a Dominion since 1907 and subject to the Balfour Declaration in 1931...the other West Indies colonies are...well, colonies
2) Florida is significantly whiter than the colonies
3) Florida is more industrialized and wealthier than the colonies
Florida would certainly take an active interest in the region, but would balk at the idea of trying to incorporate, say, Jamaica (who presumably wouldnt be too keen, either)
I can at least advise that "Naples" will be called Chatham, the Indian River is called the Hillsborough, Cape Canaveral remains Cape Canaveral, the most common names for towns and counties in the north are Saints (as many of the original rivers were named after Saints by the Spanish).
The Cape Coral-Fort Myers area is called Port Charlotte, probably.
And OTL Bradenton may be called Angola.
Daytona and Daytona Beach would have a alternate names, but also that metro area is probably just called "Greater New Smyrna" or something. Tallahassee doesnt exist as we know it, there is a smaller community to the south of it called St. Mark's.
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Relations with Castro's Cuba (assuming that still happens) would certainly be more tense under Prime Minister Roland Symonette then under Prime Minister Stokely Carmichael
Source: University of Florida https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/AE265
This is a map of watersheds within Florida, courtesy of U of F. The County boundaries might resemble this more than the OTL ones, American counties tending to be more boxy than the British ones.